A Starless World Trilogy: Withering Hope
by thoughts and words
Summary: An apprentice, just barely out of her kithood, destined to fight off a deadly force that not even she or StarClan knows of. A mere kit, bound by sacred oath, destined to complete a journey far beyond her years. Two cats, living completely separate lives, are bound together by fate... Can Brightpaw and Kyrah save their own world and their ancestors from the brink of destruction?


_Welcome to my first fanfiction! I'm not new on this site; I've been reading Warriors fanfiction for a good three years and I've decided to write my own._

 **I am extremely thankful to anyone who reads this story - please feel free to drop a review. :)**

 _-thoughts and words_

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 _A Starless World Trilogy: Withered Hope_

 **Story by: thoughts and words**

 _Special Thanks:_ _all of those who have been with me since 2010; this is for you._

 **Disclaimer: Warriors is the magificent works of _Erin Hunter_ and the published arcs of _HarperCollins_ ; this story is nonprofit and is not beneficial to me other than for enjoyment. **

_Notes:_ _this story takes place about five seasons after the Dark Forest Battle. If you haven't read The Last Hope, I suggest you turn right around and head back to the Archive section of Warriors. If you have read TLH and/or don't mind spoilers, then I invite you to stay as I tell a story far from ordinary..._

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 **CHAPTER ONE**

 _SLEEPWALKER_

 **For** the longest time I have been down in the shadows of this place. What once was a beautiful cavern, carved and created by the paws that tread on it day after day, now is a solicite and undesirable underground heap. Guardians have existed down here for generations; but all have faded into the cavern walls...except for me.

I have resided here long enough to see many pass; those good, those bad, those harmless and those harmful. All have been sought guidance by me, and only those who are true and brave tend to accept my offer. Those with shadows in their hearts do not feel the need to possess guidance by one so much older, so much wiser than them.

How long have I been here, some ask me; how long have I been seeking out those with great destinies...how long have I been a Guardian of all life that comes and goes. I do not answer their questions, for those are not what I have beckoned them for. I tell them of their destiny; that is it. I leave the rest of it up to them, for it is they who must try and figure out whom they really are; how much life - their own and their Clanmates - means to them is a matter of their own thinking.

Forgotten is what I am; I am not a cat brought up in elder's tales, stories mothers tell to their kits, or even in my own kin's stories. I have guided all cats of all Clans, no matter their heritage, and I am shunned; forgotten; a dull rock in the mass of diamonds that are the Clans' history. I have foreseen everything that has occured in their lives; I have seen every death, every battle, every new life being brought into the world even before they do...and I am shunned for it.

Soon, I shall leave these tunnels; I shall fade into the walls of this cavern, my existence fading just as my memory has. I shall never again watch and guide the cats of the four Clans; my time in this cavern will cease to exist, as will I. While I do not have a beating heart, I do in fact have hope; and my hope lives within this one cat, spoken of by the cats of the sky for generations on end...

My hope resides in this one; I can only believe that my insight has brought me the correct cat.

From my place on an old rock, I sit and wait. It is within a single heartbeat that I hear her approach my sector of the caverns.

She is lost and afraid; it isn't the least bit surprising, considering her age. She's not like most; her father has told her the stories of these caverns and what cats they possess deep within them. She carries the atmosphere of one far stronger than she, despite fear clinging to her pelt like a burr.

For a moment I sit there, wondering if she will come deeper into the cavern. She pauses, her paw raised in midair, sniffing for familiar scents; when she finds none, she hesitantly steps forward, her small paws wobbling on the rocky ground. I sense her heartbeat picking up, but not from fear; from simple curiosity.

"H-Hello? Is there anyone here?" she calls to the damp and muggy air. Her voice is quiet; almost fragile, and I fight back a purr of indecency. If she is the one I am believing her to be, she must get over that timidness quickly...she'll need too, with the dangers coming forth in the living world.

"You have come, little one." I only say those five words; nothing more, nothing less.

She jumps, startled by my sudden introduction; her pelt bushes out like a pinecone for a moment before she flattens it, realizing that I bring no harm to her. She steps closer to my rock, her light pink nose flashing in the small becon of light that dances around us.

"Who are you?" she asks, her small head tipping to the side. Her eyes flash in a final attempt to recognize me; there, in a last ounce of effort, she gets it. Her voice is soft and piercing as she says, "Are you Fallen Leaves?"

I nod, confirming her assumption. Her eyes grow wide and I purr; she has no idea what great destiny she beholds in her paws.

"I have been expecting you, little one..." I tell her, pride leaking into my voice. It's taken me so long to find this one; and now, I finally have her. "For quite some time, actually."

"You have?" She tips her head to the side once more. "For how long?"

While she is young, I can see intelligence brimming within her; knowledge far beyond her years just begging to let released, but knowing the proper time to do so. I can see wisdom flowing in her blood; power behind her eyes, in her mind...

Yes; she is the one I have been waiting for.

"For many, many seasons I have awaited your arrival," I tell her simply. "You have finally come, after all this time..." I allow a trickle of my own curiosity to further drive what I wish to say. "Tell me, little kit, why have you come?"

A moment of hesitation, followed by a strong response. "My father told me of this place when I was younger; he said it was where those who have great destinies lived until they died -"

"Until they found a successor," I correct, to which she swallows and nods. She makes no move to continue, to which I will not push her; what she knows now will not amount to what she must know for the future of her home.

"I remember when your father first came here," I sigh fondly at the memory, my eyes softening upon her. "He was a young cat, much like you; innocent, naive, and even the slightest bit cocky. But your father's destiny is not what I have beckoned you here for; I have something far more important to tell you."

A burst of excitement comes to her eyes. "You know of my destiny?" she squeaks, to which I purr in amusement; she's stronger now - all fear has gone from her fur, replaced by wonder and the scents of the living world.

"Indeed I do," I say, "I know all, young one; knowledge is a very powerful thing. I see all, hear all, and know all. However," I lean forward, a question I already know the answer to leaving my muzzle, "I do not know one thing: your name."

"I thought you knew, considering you're a cat with a great destiny..." she wonders, twitching her ears.

"I'd much rather hear it coming from your tongue, little one."

She sighs, raises her chin and speaks proudly. "Brightkit. My name is Brightkit."

I make no move to comment, only continue. "Tell me of your dreams, Brightkit...what are they like?"

"Don't you already know?" she asks, but then realizes her rudeness and adds, "They aren't normal, that's for sure... They're really odd, almost like nightmares but not as scary... They tend to be all over the place, but..."

She trails off, confirming my worst fear: she doesn't want to wonder if her destiny were once dreams.

After a moment, she continues: "but I can see what is going to happen; who will die, who will live..."

Her eyes are wide in horror as she looks at me, plead in her voice. "What are they, Fallen Leaves? Why do I have such strange dreams? Why can I see everything that happens before it actually does?"

I rise from my spot on the rock; my voice is fierce, yet soft as I say, "You are a Guardian, Brightkit. You are like me, young kit... You have the gift and the ability to predict the future."

"What does it mean?"

"It means that you have a great destiny in your paws, little one. One day, when I fade into the realms of these caverns like those before me, you are to take my place as the Guardian and watch over the Clans - their every move, their every waking moment...their every dreaming hour is at your paws, Brightkit."

"Am I going to have this power forever?"

I nod, not allowing her to say anything else as I quickly steal the air she was about to use to speak. "Do you know why you have come here to the caverns below your home, Brightkit?"

"To accept my destiny." she responds clearly.

I purr in acceptance and continue. "You are promised a destiny no other cat has been trusted with, Brightkit. You must wield it well, control it; one slip up can alter history. Do you understand that?"

She nods; determination is overpowering her fear.

"Then go, Brightkit, and make me proud to call you my successor."

Her fading pelt is the last image burned into my mind as I gaze up at the blackness above me. Somewhere, there are stars shining above me; down in this hollowed space the stars watched her, protected her from the dangers that are within these caverns...

The stars must continue to protect her; for when the danger that insight cannot forsee comes, the stars will not be there to save her.

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 **Please do drop a review and tell me how I did; I appreciate them greatly. :D**

 _~thoughts and words_


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